College Station Cuties

We visited the Howells in College Station one last time before Cate arrives in October.  We were not sure how Addison would handle an entire weekend with a friend, but she absolutely loved it.  They played so well together and laughed an giggled throughout the weekend.

We went to Cheddar's on Friday night where the girls wooed all the other dinner patrons. We got back from dinner and Addison and Emma had a bath.  Neither one of them were sure why they were sharing a bath, but loved it nonetheless.  It is a good thing Addison loves water because Emma loved to dump the cups on her head.   Addison was a great sport and smiled the entire time.  I think she liked the company so much a little water was not a big deal in the least.

Saturday morning we got up early - funny how that works with kids :) and had breakfast and went out to Kristin's parent's land.  The girls scoped out the cows (both mooed) and rode the Gator with theirs dads to go and get a closer look.  No such luck with the cows, they ran away, but they enjoyed the ride.  Emma went to the chicken coop to show Addison the chickens, but in true Addison fashion she looked from a distance and didn't want to get nearly as close as Emma.  I will take the blame for this trait - I cannot blame her in the least.  They had a fun time and were super stylish in their boots.  Addison's are on loan from Emma, but she has some at home that were a birthday gift from Emma we are ready to break in this fall.

Kristin and I took the girls back to their house for a swim to cool down.  They had great fun and Addison provided Emma an education on drinking with the hose entirely in your mouth - not sure why but she loves this even though it makes her cough.  They had another bath and got dressed for their lunch and naps.  While they were napping Kristin and I shopped, of course.  You can never pass up a Target trip!

We went to dinner at Layne's and then dropped by the Association to get a quick campus visit in.  The girls had their pictures taken in the new Aggie ring and looked so super cute.  Monty jokes this is pushing her to be a Longhorn, but I will take the opportunity to keep her in maroon as long as I can.

What a wonderful weekend with great friends.  We can't wait for Cate to arrive and play.  I am sure she will be just as wonderful as big sister Emma!

16 Months

Addison is absolutely verbal these days.  It amazes us daily how a word we did not know she knew she will say out of the blue in perfect context and shock us all.  Here is a break down of her favorite words she can clearly say:

• Gubba, Gubba - she literally wakes up each morning saying this the instant we go in her room.  This stands for Bubble Guppies on Nick Jr., her favorite show.  In fact, she can turn the TV on with the remote and will stand there and say Gubba, Gubba until it is on the screen.  (Little worried about this...)
• Elmo, light, elbow, bite, chip, bubble, eye, peach, my, Dora, Lilly, Lisa, PaPa, PawPaw, duck, meow, hallo (hello), hi, up, B (binki), ice, wa-wa (water), milk, fish, shoe, nana (banana & Monty's Nannah), Pappy, toot, apple  
• MiMi - Addison's version of TV
• NO, NO, NO
• Baby
• Many more that escape me...

She is still very much a lover of books.  She impresses us because one of her favorites she can recite with us. The book is called  Moo, Baa, LaLaLa.  The book starts a cow says moo, a sheep says baa, and three singing pigs say lalala.  If you say a cow says ____, etc. she will fill in the blanks by herself.  We are so amazed and proud.  She also has books for each letter and she and Monty are very fond of the "K" because she knows when kiss is coming up and will 'kiss' on that letter - genius, I must say. 

In the last month she discovered babies.  It is a bit funny because she has always had them available to play with, but one day she just made the discovery and needs to have one more often than not.  Lucky for us, she does love a particular baby, but she is really happy to play with virtually any baby.  I do have a back up of her favorite in the event it ever disappears, but I am relatively certain she would be happy with any doll.   

I was happy to think Addison was going to be immune to separation anxiety, but alas in the last month or so she has fallen victim as all children do.  Each time we go to the nursery (or dawn the doors of our church or Grammy and PaPa's church) she immediately begins to cry knowing she is going to be 'left'.  This has been really hard as we hate to see her cry, but I think we are slowly making our way through this as all other children do.  If nothing else, MDO will be great for her start in the fall to re-acclimate her to life outside of her family.  It has been so hot she has spent a great deal of time at home or Grammy and PaPa's this summer. 

She has had free reign of the house since she started opening doors back in June.  This means she helps herself to any and all items in our home within her arm's reach.  She also learned on the SAME day to climb on the couch and chairs.  It is funny to go in to the living room and see her on the couch with the remote in hand pointing at the TV willing it to come on. On the times she is able to make it come on with the right combo of buttons, she absolutely beams at the accomplishment.

Another wonderful month with our wonderful girl.